Engagement in high- and low-rated argumentative essays: Interactions in Indonesian students’ writings

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-24
Author(s):  
Anis Handayani ◽  
Nur Arifah Drajati ◽  
N. Ngadiso
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Explicit Teaching ◽  
Data Validity ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Persuasive Arguments

This study reports the use of engagement in high-rated and low-rated EFL undergraduate students’ argumentative essays. The engagement here refers to one of the aspects in interacting with the readers, which is called metadiscourse (Hyland, 2005a). The data in this study were ten highest-rated and ten lowest-rated argumentative essays written by first-year undergraduate students. The data were coded manually by two raters to maintain data validity. The results reveal that high-rated essays contain less engagement than low-rated ones. However, it also shows that the engagement in high-rated essays was more varied and grammatically sophisticated than those in low-rated essays. Furthermore, while this study reveals that the higher number of engagement used in argumentative essays does not always coincide with the improved quality of the writing, it implies that the writing quality and score do not depend on the number of engagement expressed but more on the ways students use the engagement effectively. Thus, the explicit teaching on how to use engagement effectively in persuasive writings may be useful for the students to build more persuasive arguments as well as to improve their writing quality.

scholarly journals The Effect of Using Conjunction as Cohesive Device on the Undergraduates’ Quality of Writing in Argumentative Essays of Jordanian EFL Learners

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rawhi Yousef Salman Al Shamalat ◽  
Che An Binti Abdul Ghani
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mixed Method Research ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Mu'tah University

The goal of this research was to investigate the effect of use conjunctions on the overall quality of argumentative writing of Jordanian English as foreign language (EFL) learners. This mixed-method research included sixty (n=60) undergraduate students at the Department. of English Language and Literature at Mu’tah University in Jordan. The participants of the research were selected using purposive sampling method. The data of the research were collected using written essays and interviews. The data was analyzed using SPSS. The data was collected using analytical scale Jacob et al., (1981) to measure the quality of argumentative essays. The result of this research showed that there was a weak negative but irrelevant correlation between writing quality and the frequency of conjunctions as cohesive devices. This correlation indicates that the frequent and general use of devices in the writing of Jordanian students did not contribute to the quality of the writing under any conditions. Also the finding revealed that there is an extremely negative but irrelevant correlation between the use of conjunctions devices by Jordanian EFL students and their writing quality. Therefore, the correlation was negative and insignificant for Jordanian EFL students. More specifically, the result shows that the frequencies of conjunctions were not found as an indicator of good writing quality for Jordanian EFL students. This research is significant for providing a considerable number of pedagogical implications for further research that will offer great contribution to the field of teaching writing in EFL setting in Jordan in particular and English as second language (ESL) context in general. Moreover, the research has shown a better understanding of cohesive devices / conjunctions by Jordanian EFL students at Mu’tah University.

Beyond Differences: Assessing Effects of Shared Linguistic Features on L2 Writing Quality of Two Genres

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaopeng Zhang ◽  
Xiaofei Lu ◽  
Wenwen Li
Keyword(s):  
Latent Variables ◽  
Moving Average ◽  
College Level ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Efl Writing ◽  
Test Corpus ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Complex Nominals

Abstract This study explored the relationship between linguistic features and the rated quality of letters of application (LAs) and argumentative essays (AEs) composed in English by Chinese college-level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. A corpus of 260 LAs and 260 AEs were analyzed via a confirmatory factor analysis. Latent variables were EFL writing quality, captured by writing scores, and lexical sophistication, syntactic complexity, and cohesion, each captured by different linguistic features in the two genres of writing. Results indicated that lexical decision times, moving average type-token ratio with a 50-word window, and complex nominals per clause explained 55.5 per cent of the variance in the holistic scores of both genres of writing. This pattern of predictivity was further validated with a test corpus of 110 LAs and 110 AEs, revealing that, albeit differing in genre, higher-rated LAs and AEs were likely to contain more sophisticated words and complex nominals and exhibit a higher type-token ratio with a 50-word window. These findings help enrich our understanding of the shared features of different genres of EFL writing and have potentially useful implications for EFL writing pedagogy and assessment.

Intercultural Discourse Patterns in Writing Argumentative Texts

2008 ◽  
Vol 156 ◽  
pp. 153-168
Author(s):  
Bruria Margolin ◽  
Hanna Ezer
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Year ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Discourse Patterns ◽  
Jewish Students ◽  
Arab Students ◽  
Text Features ◽  
Argumentative Texts

This study examines the quality of the writing of Jewish (L1) and Arab (L2) first-year student teachers at Hebrew-speaking colleges. The study seeks to understand the quality of argumentative writing of the student teachers at the beginning of their studies and to expose the discourse patterns that emerge from those argumentative texts. A code book serving as a coding analysis device was developed in order to reveal the following rhetorical text features: content, structure, syntax and style. Each global feature contained a number of specific measures. The findings indicate that the writing quality of first-year L1 students is significantly higher than that of first-year L2 students on all the specific writing measures examined. The texts of the Arab students were less coherent and lacked rhetorical structure and accepted grammatical forms, whereas those of the Jewish students were more coherent and self-explanatory. The study concludes that when Arab students write in Hebrew as a second language, the linguistic and rhetorical conventions of Arabic interfere with their Hebrew writing. The results demonstrate significant and interesting differences between Jewish native speakers (L1 students) and Arab non-native speakers (L2 students). While the texts of L1 students tend to display 'explicit coherence,' those of L2 students show 'implicit coherence.'

scholarly journals Understanding Barriers to Student Success: What Students Have to Say

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Kuley ◽  
Sean Maw ◽  
Terry Fonstad
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
College Of Engineering ◽  
The University

This paper focuses on feedback received from a set of qualitative questions that were administered to undergraduate students in the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, as part of a larger mixed methods study. The larger study aims to identify what characteristics, if any, can predict or are related to student success; The “start-stop-continue” method was utilized to assess student perceptions about  their success in the college as a whole. The students were asked: Are there any specific things that you can think of that act/acted as barriers to your success in engineering (stop)? What could the college do/change to make first year more successful for engineering students (start)? Is there anything in your engineering degree so far that you feel is done well and helps students succeed (continue)? Students identified the quality of instruction early in their program as well as adjustment to college workloads and self-directed learning as the most significant barriers tostudent success.

scholarly journals The Results of Development of the Online Instruction with Design-based Thinking for the Construction of Creative Products

TEM Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1715-1720
Author(s):  
Narasak Phunaploy ◽  
Pinanta Chatwattana ◽  
Pallop Piriyasurawong
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Online Instruction ◽  
Educational Innovation ◽  
First Year ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Innovation And Technology ◽  
Creative Products ◽  
High Level ◽  
Very High

This research is the development of the online instruction with design-based thinking for the construction of creative products. The population of this research included experts and the first year undergraduate students from the Department of Educational Innovation and Technology, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. According to the results, it is found that (1) the quality of the online lessons with design-based thinking is at a very high level, (2) the scores of learning achievement after learning the said online lessons are higher than those before learning these online lessons with a significance level of .01, (3) the scores of creative products created by the students after learning through the online lessons are at a very good level, and (4) the satisfaction toward the learning through online lessons with designbased thinking for the construction of creative products is at a very high level.

scholarly journals A Systemic Functional Linguistic Analysis of Cohesion and The Writing Quality of Saudi Female EFL Undergraduate Students

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khawater Fahad Alshalan
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Writing Assessment ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistic ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Qualitative Data Analysis Software ◽  
Writing Scores

This study aims to investigate how frequently Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) cohesive devices were used as well as their relationship with the writing quality of 100 Saudi EFL undergraduate students in Al Imam Muhammed Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It uses a mixed method approach, where the students’ essays were analyzed using systemic functional linguistics (SFL) in terms of the textual meta-function of cohesive devices. The five types of the cohesive devices are the following: lexical cohesion, reference, conjunction, substitutions, and ellipses. Moreover, each of their subcategories were analyzed in the students’ texts. The NVivo qualitative data analysis software and the corpus analysis (conducted using AntConc) were used to calculate the frequencies of each cohesive device found in the data. The IELTS writing assessment scale was also used to evaluate the students’ writing scores. The results show that the most frequently used device was lexical cohesion, specifically repetition. Saudi EFL undergraduate students tended to repeatedly stay focused on the central idea of the topic. Furthermore, Pearson’s correlation coefficient found a relationship between the students’ writing scores and length of their essays, the use of cohesive ties and the scores, and cohesive ties and the length of the students’ essays. This study recommends that EFL teachers provide Saudi EFL students several cohesive tools in order to help them improve their writing skills and connect their ideas smoothly.

Intercultural Discourse Patterns in Writing Argumentative Texts

2008 ◽  
Vol 156 ◽  
pp. 153-168
Author(s):  
Bruria Margolin ◽  
Hanna Ezer
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Year ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Discourse Patterns ◽  
Jewish Students ◽  
Arab Students ◽  
Text Features ◽  
Argumentative Texts

Abstract This study examines the quality of the writing of Jewish (L1) and Arab (L2) first-year student teachers at Hebrew-speaking colleges. The study seeks to understand the quality of argumentative writing of the student teachers at the beginning of their studies and to expose the discourse patterns that emerge from those argumentative texts. A code book serving as a coding analysis device was developed in order to reveal the following rhetorical text features: content, structure, syntax and style. Each global feature contained a number of specific measures. The findings indicate that the writing quality of first-year L1 students is significantly higher than that of first-year L2 students on all the specific writing measures examined. The texts of the Arab students were less coherent and lacked rhetorical structure and accepted grammatical forms, whereas those of the Jewish students were more coherent and self-explanatory. The study concludes that when Arab students write in Hebrew as a second language, the linguistic and rhetorical conventions of Arabic interfere with their Hebrew writing. The results demonstrate significant and interesting differences between Jewish native speakers (L1 students) and Arab non-native speakers (L2 students). While the texts of L1 students tend to display 'explicit coherence,' those of L2 students show 'implicit coherence.'

Comparability of students’ writing performance on TOEFL iBT and in required university writing courses

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorena Llosa ◽  
Margaret E. Malone
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Writing Proficiency ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Toefl Ibt ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Lower Magnitude

Investigating the comparability of students’ performance on TOEFL writing tasks and actual academic writing tasks is essential to provide backing for the extrapolation inference in the TOEFL validity argument (Chapelle, Enright, & Jamieson, 2008). This study compared 103 international non-native-English-speaking undergraduate students’ performance on two TOEFL iBT® writing tasks with their performance in required writing courses in US universities as measured by instructors’ ratings of student proficiency, instructor-assigned grades on two course assignments, and five dimensions of writing quality of the first and final drafts of those course assignments: grammatical, cohesive, rhetorical, sociopragmatic, and content control. Also, the quality of the writing on the TOEFL writing tasks was compared with the first and final drafts of responses to written course assignments using a common analytic rubric along the five dimensions. Correlations of scores from TOEFL tasks (Independent, Integrated, and the total Writing section) with instructor ratings of students’ overall English proficiency and writing proficiency were moderate and significant. However, only scores on the Integrated task and the Writing section were correlated with instructor-assigned grades on course assignments. Correlations between scores on TOEFL tasks and all dimensions of writing quality were positive and significant, though of lower magnitude for final drafts than for first drafts. The TOEFL scores were most highly correlated with cohesive and grammatical control and had the lowest correlations with rhetorical organization. The quality of the writing on the TOEFL tasks was comparable to that of the first drafts of course assignment but not the final drafts. These findings provide backing for the extrapolation inference, suggesting that the construct of academic writing proficiency as assessed by TOEFL “accounts for the quality of linguistic performance in English-medium institutions of higher education” (Chapelle, Enright, & Jamieson, 2008, p. 21).

scholarly journals The effects of explicit instruction of formulaic language on EFL argumentative writing quality

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Armağan Bakili Akkoç ◽  
Jingjing Qin ◽  
Erkan Karabacak
Keyword(s):  
Explicit Instruction ◽  
The Other ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Argumentative Writing ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Explicit Teaching ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Experimental Group

This study investigated the effects of explicit teaching of formulaic language on the overall quality of Turkish EFL university students’ argumentative writing. Forty-four freshmen and twenty-seven sophomores participated in the study, with half of them assigned to the experimental group and the other to the control group. Forty target formulaic language items were explicitly taught to the experimental group with a variety of activities for four hours in two weeks. The experimental group was found to increase the overall quality scores of their writing significantly after the intervention. They also outperformed the control group in the immediate post-test although a decrease was observed in the delayed post-test. Moreover, a significantly positive correlation was observed between the frequency of the formulaic language items used and the overall quality scores of the essays. It seemed that the explicit instruction of the target items raised the students’ awareness of formulaic language and improved the overall quality of their writing.

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